Country Artist Interviews with Graham Bell Australia
Glen Campbell.singer, guitarist, songwriter, television host, and actor. He series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s
- Graham Bell Website... www.gbellmedia2.com
- Email....grahambell.coffs@gmail.com would like to hear from you.
Glen Campbell Biography
Singer (1936–2017)
Glen Campbell was a country music legend known for such hits as "Rhinestone Cowboy," "Wichita Lineman" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix."
Who Was Glen Campbell?
Born in 1936 in Arkansas, Glen Campbell began his musical career as a songwriter and sideman to some of the biggest stars of the 1960s. He achieved success on both the country and pop charts late in the decade through tracks like "Gentle on My Mind," and the 1970s he cemented his status as a crossover star with the No. 1 hits "Rhinestone Cowboy" and "Southern Nights." Campbell was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005, and earned a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. Following a public battle with Alzheimer's disease, the country music legend died on August 8, 2017, at the age of 81.
Early Life
Glen Travis Campbell was born on April 22, 1936, on a family farm between Billstown and Delight, Arkansas. The son of Wesley, a sharecropper, and Carrie Dell, Campbell was one of 12 children. The family faced financial hard times—all the Campbell children pitched in to help pick cotton—but they were extremely musical, and Glen displayed early promise in that area. At the age of 4, his father bought him a $5 Sears and Roebuck guitar; within a few years, Campbell was appearing as a paid act and performing guest spots on local radio stations.
At age 14, Campbell dropped out of school to embark on a music career. He soon joined his uncle Dick Bills as part of the Sandia Mountain Boys, a band that enjoyed some success out of New Mexico. In 1958, Campbell put together his own group, the Western Wranglers.
Session Guitarist
Shortly thereafter, Campbell relocated to Los Angeles. He took a job at the American Music Company, a small publishing house that employed a staff of songwriters. In 1961, at the age of 24, Campbell recorded the single "Turn Around, Look at Me." Its modest success caught the attention of Capitol Records, which signed the young artist to its roster.
With Capitol, Campbell became known as a skilled session guitarist and finger-picker. He worked alongside such chart-topping artists as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Merle Haggard, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, the Righteous Brothers, and the Monkees, and joined prominent producers Phil Spector and Jimmy Bowen for their recordings. Additionally, following Brian Wilson's retreat from the public eye, Campbell was invited to tour with the Beach Boys in 1964.
"Gentle on My Mind" & Other Early Hits
By 1967, Campbell was finally earning acclaim for his own work. "Gentle on My Mind" found its way onto bo
- Graham Bell Website... www.gbellmedia2.com
- Email....grahambell.coffs@gmail.com would like to hear from you.
Glen Campbell Biography
Singer (1936–2017)
Glen Campbell was a country music legend known for such hits as "Rhinestone Cowboy," "Wichita Lineman" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix."
Who Was Glen Campbell?
Born in 1936 in Arkansas, Glen Campbell began his musical career as a songwriter and sideman to some of the biggest stars of the 1960s. He achieved success on both the country and pop charts late in the decade through tracks like "Gentle on My Mind," and the 1970s he cemented his status as a crossover star with the No. 1 hits "Rhinestone Cowboy" and "Southern Nights." Campbell was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2005, and earned a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. Following a public battle with Alzheimer's disease, the country music legend died on August 8, 2017, at the age of 81.
Early Life
Glen Travis Campbell was born on April 22, 1936, on a family farm between Billstown and Delight, Arkansas. The son of Wesley, a sharecropper, and Carrie Dell, Campbell was one of 12 children. The family faced financial hard times—all the Campbell children pitched in to help pick cotton—but they were extremely musical, and Glen displayed early promise in that area. At the age of 4, his father bought him a $5 Sears and Roebuck guitar; within a few years, Campbell was appearing as a paid act and performing guest spots on local radio stations.
At age 14, Campbell dropped out of school to embark on a music career. He soon joined his uncle Dick Bills as part of the Sandia Mountain Boys, a band that enjoyed some success out of New Mexico. In 1958, Campbell put together his own group, the Western Wranglers.
Session Guitarist
Shortly thereafter, Campbell relocated to Los Angeles. He took a job at the American Music Company, a small publishing house that employed a staff of songwriters. In 1961, at the age of 24, Campbell recorded the single "Turn Around, Look at Me." Its modest success caught the attention of Capitol Records, which signed the young artist to its roster.
With Capitol, Campbell became known as a skilled session guitarist and finger-picker. He worked alongside such chart-topping artists as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Merle Haggard, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, the Righteous Brothers, and the Monkees, and joined prominent producers Phil Spector and Jimmy Bowen for their recordings. Additionally, following Brian Wilson's retreat from the public eye, Campbell was invited to tour with the Beach Boys in 1964.
"Gentle on My Mind" & Other Early Hits
By 1967, Campbell was finally earning acclaim for his own work. "Gentle on My Mind" found its way onto bo